MSP Trooper 5 Rescues Man After Fall From Cliff

Last night around 7:00pm, Aviation Medevac,Trooper 5 – Pilot Tim McMahon, Pilot James Moon, Flight Medic Trooper First Class Richard DeVore and Rescue Technician Master Trooper Eric Derham – responded to the scene of a 19 year old man who fell approximately 200 feet off the face of a cliff near the Lakewood development and Potomac River.

Wiley Ford and Short Gap Volunteer Fire Departments were dispatched to the location and arrived shortly before Trooper 5. Once overhead, Trooper 5 located the victim on a rock at the base of the cliff. Trooper 5 was able to direct ground units who were on foot due to the rugged terrain to his location.

Due to the victims’s traumatic injuries and extended extrication time – Trooper 5 was requested to perform an aerial hoist rescue of the patient. MT Derham was lowered from the helicopter to the scene to coordinate ground operations while TFC DeVore operated the rescue hoist on the helicopter.

With the assistance of the ground rescuers from Maryland and West Virginia the victim was treated, stabilized and hoisted to the aircraft. MT Derham accompanied the victim during the lift to maintain care. Trooper 5 flew the patient to the Western Maryland Regional Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.